The present invention relates to an arrangement for improving the architecture of communication systems supporting mobility.
More specifically the present invention relates to a functional separation architecture supporting mobility.
The present invention has been developed in connection with improving the architecture of a mobile communication system.
More specifically the present invention has been developed in order to introduce mobility, i.e. the capability to deliver telecommunication services to the user anywhere and at any time, to a communication system in a well-structured way.
The present invention demonstrates that the mobility functions can be realised as a functional separated layer.
In other words, this invention proposes a function separation architecture for communication systems that supports mobility.
TINA (Telecommunication Information Networking Architecture) Consortium [TIN95i] has proposed a functional separation architecture for telecommunication systems but the proposed architecture does not have any mobility layer. It is unclear where the functions to support mobility are allocated (i.e. in the DPE layer or the network resource layer). Furthermore, TINA architecture does no consider three domains namely the user domain, the terminal domain and the telecom system domain.
The existing communication system architectures do not consider mobility as separate layer but either allocate the mobility functions in the Network resource layer or the application/service layer. There are several consequences for the first case where the mobility functions are integrated on the network resource layer such as in GSM (Global Mobile System). It is difficult to make any modification of the mobility functions without affecting the network functions. It is difficult o reuse the mobility functions designed for a network on another one since they are tight to the network characteristics and technology. In the second case where mobility is treated as a service such in UPT (Universal Personal Telecommunication), the most severe disadvantage is the feature interaction which occurs due to multiple mobility implementations at different places, e.g. in fixed network and also in the mobile network.
The object of the present invention is to propose a functional separation architecture for the telecommunication system in question, whereby mobility is supported in a far more efficient and economic manner.
Another object of the present invention is to dedicate a functional layer to mobility functions and mechanisms.
Still another object of the present invention is to introduce such mobility support in any open distributed processing (ODP) system or similar.
The above objects are achieved in an arrangement as suggested by the present invention, the characterizing features thereof being defined in the appending patent claims.
In other words, according to the present invention there is suggested a functional separation architecture supporting mobility for communication systems.
More specifically such an architecture may comprise a separate functional layer for mobility, called mobility layer, in addition to the network resource layer, the DPE layer and the application layer.
Appropriately, such an architecture may comprise three domains, i.e. the user domain, the terminal domain and the telecom system domain.
Further features and advantages of the resent invention will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with the enclosed drawing, as well as from the appending patent claims.